Inspiration Faith & Prayer Health & Wellness Entertainment Love & Family
Newsletters Special Offers

Beliefnet News

The militant group al-Shabab, one of several vying for control of Somalia, has ordered all schools to quit teaching English or face violent consequences. Since Somalia has had no government for more than 20 years, all schools are run by charitable groups. The militant group ordered teachers to replace English with Arabic. The Arabic-language al-Quds al-Arabidaily newspaper based in London said al-Shabab…

Scotland’s Philip Tartaglia, a senior bishop in the Catholic church, says that any government which legalizes gay marriage is committing “cultural vandalism.” The Bishop of Paisley said that any such move by Scottish legislators would “shame Scotland in the eyes of the world,” according to the British newspaper the Daily Mail. “A government which favors and…

“Atheist alert!” writes Jordan Sekulow in the Washington Post. “New statistics from the Public Religion Research Institute show that over 70 percent of Republicans and over 50 percent of Democrats want a president who has “very strong religious beliefs.” This comes as increasingly aggressive atheist groups continue to mock publicly anyone who believes in God —…

Australian TV reports that the national Fair Work Ombudsman is alleging the Church of Scientology is guilty of false imprisonment of members and forced labor violating Australian slavery laws. The Ombudsman’s preliminary report found some Scientology workers paid as little as $10 a week by the church — forcing them to rely on government assistance —…

A Canadian judge, noting that a majority of Canadians support  unrestricted abortion, has freed a woman who strangled her newborn son. Katrina Effert of Wetaskiwin, Alberta gave birth secretly in her parents’ downstairs bathroom, then killed the boy and threw his body over a fence.  She was 19 at the time. She told the court that she was…

A shari’ah court based on Islamic law has been established for Muslims in Antwerp, Belgium, but has the same legal status as “Judge Judy” on American TV, according to officials. The Muslim court will handle marriage disputes and inheritance issues if requested by the parties involved in lieu of a civil court hearing. Both parties must agree…

South Carolina mega-church pastor Perry Noble had a hard-hitting message on the seriousness of sexual immorality in the church. For those who take sexual sins lightly, he made it clear to them: “You’re not saved,” according to Audrey Barrick reporting for the news site Christian Post. Noble tackled adultery, “friends with benefits,” pornography and homosexuality as…

Watching highly paced cartoons such as SpongeBob SquarePants hinders pre-schoolers’ abstract thinking, short-term memory and impulse control, according to the University of Virginia. “He may be one of the longest-running, best-loved cartoons in Nickelodeon history,” writes Courtney Hutchison for ABC News, “but SpongeBob SquarePants is getting no love from child psychologists.” According to research published…

While the United States was observing the 10-year anniversary of the September 11 attacks, Japan on Sunday was marking the six-month anniversary of the March earthquake and tsunami that devasted a large portion of the island nation. The Japanese observed the anniversary with prayer services, bell ringing and chanting at 2:46 p.m., the time when the…

Dr. Rowan Williams is planning to resign as Archbishop of Canterbury by the end of next year – eight years early, London’s Daily Mail newspaper reported Monday. Rumors have been circulating that the 61-year-old Archbishop, who could remain in office until he is 70, feels the ten years he has served enough in such a demanding job —…
archives most recent
search this blog
More from Beliefnet and our partners